Power of the coin flip

We've been talking a lot about how exactly we go about figuring out our future path. Primarily, that means spending time discussing what we want more of/less of, how we make big decisions etc... but the truth is that we (like most, I assume) still sometimes don't know.

Sometimes it comes down to making the best educated guess, and sometimes it even boils down to the flip of a coin. I do mean that literally... but also maybe not in exactly the way you might think.

For years, we've used this coin-flip method as our occasional "secret weapon" - only as a last resort for big/difficult decisions.  When, after we’ve already weighed the pros and cons, we’ve filled the whiteboard with all possibilities, we’ve exhausted all typical means of a solution but still cannot decide - we leave our life and future up to fate and flip a coin.

Well, not entirely/exactly.
We do resort to a coin flip… but in in the typical way of allowing the coin to decide.  We find a coin, sign one future path to heads and one to tails as you might expect and toss the coin into the air.

But while its in the air, or occasionally as it lands, what we’re both focused deeply on… is how we FEEL at the precise moment the coin is uncovered.  Theoretically, the moment "the decision has been made for us”.  Are we thrilled at the choice or do we feel disappointed about what it tells us to do? 

IF you’re really willing (and able) to check in with yourself at this split second when the face of the coin is revealed - it can actually tell you a LOT about how you feel deep down about the choices.  And for a couple who are very much led by our hearts/happiness above all things - this technique has worked wonderfully for us over the years.  Sometimes we side with/listen to the coin and what it has told us to do, sometimes our heart gives us a glimmer that says we do not accept the coin's decision and go the other way… but as long as we can clear our minds and truly listen to the heart - it almost always helps (which is why we treat it as a precious resource and only pull it out in dire times so as to not waste its "magic").  

To clarify - No… it is not a specific coin, nor a magic one - but over the years the process has begun to seem very much so. ;)

So far in this particular set of decisions - the coin hasn’t proved quite as useful.  Primarily because we haven't been able to limit/narrow the possible paths down to only two, and also because so many aspects of our decision(s) still remain out of our control. 

A few short weeks ago when we were waiting on any offer/interest from our attempts at selling our home back in Portland (on the market for over 9months), listing svKarma for sale seemed to be the only logical/safe option, and we of course proceeded to make it so - and to ensure that we were making moves as far in advance and as quickly as possible while still watching our funds dwindle.

When we finally got an offer on the house, we certainly weren’t going to halt progress as we’ve been through our share of failed real estate transactions before.  We proceeded onward, prepping the boat and moving along the somewhat known path we were already on. 

We arranged for the listing with a boat broker and signed a contract. We arranged to store a small set of personal belongings until we know what our future holds (or where it leads).  Eventually we booked international flights/trips to take us off the boat rather than sitting idly by in the the city, focused on the sale every single day and hoping for or stressing over an offer/buyer (certainly NOT our best life).

When the inspections and appraisal for the house were scheduled we began to feel our hopes rising, but forced ourselves to not get too excited and to stay the course.  When the negotiations finally concluded and the deposit hit our account, we celebrated the newfound padding or breathing room to our financial situation, and even had a few conversations about whether to take the boat off the market.  

I think most people who follow along here were completely shocked to see that we were still leaving the boat after announcing that our house had sold (in truth, I think we were/are a bit surprised as well)… but as we checked in with ourselves and each other - it felt a bit as though that “ship had sailed”.  

We’d already done the hard work of prepping and listing the boat, we’d packed all the belongings we planned to keep/ship somewhere (and sold/purged the rest). By then we'd also expanded our travel plans and committed to events with friends and loved ones, added a stop in AUS, and even a speaking event (the book launch event in London) that we were excited about.  We now have flights booked to 3 different continents (thank you airline miles/points!). 

We'd already started/taken steps down this path and it was an easy decision to simply carry on forward and see where it lead us... even if we at some point decide to and/or have to return to the boat.

We could have, and in fact in most any other case probably would have - stopped and flipped a coin.  The decision was finally a simple two-sided one (within the powers of the coin) - to stay on the boat, or go.  But as it turned out, we didn’t even need the coin… we just carried on with momentum/current trajectory, and kept moving forward - officially homeless and with no plan or direction for what lies ahead.

So here we are… a few flights into our journey, a few events and adventures behind us and even some time spent on the road to remind us what its like to travel in a beautiful van that we designed and built the interior for (even if it wasn’t intended for us at the time). ;)

And how ARE we feeling?
To be honest, a bit like we just uncovered the coin and didn’t like what we saw on the upturned face. 

Don’t get me wrong.  We have had an absolute blast the last couple weeks with friends, exploring and adventuring, even spending some time off the boat for the first time in years - but we are also feeling (possibly more than ever) how much we miss the water/ocean being so present in our every day.

We actually knew it almost right away (and the feeling simply grows stronger every day that we're away from the boat/ocean... despite how much we've been distracting ourselves) - that in our hearts we still want to be on the water (at the very least near it - but in our heart of hearts - ON it).

Now that the house sold - that may again be a potential for us... so we are catching ourselves re-re-evaluating things again (and again).

As I type this, Karma has still not sold, but I'd be lying if we don't feel like we've already done the hard work of moving on/peeling the bandaid off there - I've also caught myself surfing the "for sale" ads of other boats... and we actually discussed doing something crazy like attending a boat show to check out new options.
It's something we always wished we had done before our last minute decision to buy Karma and move aboard site-unseen... but we also always figured back then that we wouldn't know what we were looking for anyway (same reason we didn't even show up for the survey/sea trial before buying her).

It does sound fun though - even up to today, the only other boats (not named Karma) we've ever been aboard are those owned by friend's when we were invited over for a sundowner or dinner.

Our broker selling Karma back in Tahiti was quick to point out that we'll be in London for the book launch event only a few days after the big multihull show in France - and I'd be lying if I said we hadn't already checked the price of transportation and lodging to get there before leaving French Polynesia - and we've since decided its a pretty good idea (aka we decided to do it!). Our current flight to Europe does land in Paris after all...

Note to self: sometimes typing things out makes you feel/sound even crazier than you say them out loud. Don't throw stones... we're just doing our best over here to keep all possible doors open, to go with the flow and see what the universe has in store for us - but a bit of dreaming along the way never hurt, right?? ;)

Boat Show report coming soon!